"This volume is a study of landslides and debris flows on the Loess Plateau in north-central China which lies in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. Loess Plateau is a region with a dense rural population and a number of cities housing more than a million people. Landslides are triggered by heavy rainstorms and earthquakes have been a recurrent hazard in the loess for over two millennia." "The contributors to this book set out with a number of goals including establishing the role of bedrock relief in landsliding, studying the natural hydrological system within the loess slopes, characterising the failure of the loess fabric, producing a dynamically-based classification of loess landslides and 'ultimately' establishing criteria for a simple system for loess slope failure, together with an advisory scheme for population response to landslide warnings."--Jacket.